BLOG HOP DAY 2

Hello Again!  Welcome to Day 2 of the Quilting Gallery's Blog Hop.  Don't forget to leave a comment to be registered for the drawing of a copy of my book, ORPHAN BLOCK QUILTS.  If you leave a comment on the day's blog from March 8th to March 14th, your name will go in the drawing hat.  I plan to draw the winner on March 15th.

The weather was so beautiful today and the sun was so bright that my antique-loving parents and I played hooky and went to one of our favorite places -- Lisa's Indoor Flea Market in Greenville, PA.  Here are some photos of quilt and textile items that I saw there.

This photo shows the assorted quilt blocks that I scored today at my favorite booth.  Five Dresden plates from the 1930's, a ca. 1910 single wedding ring, a ca. 1940 stripy block,  a ca. 1910 unidentified block, a ca. 1900 pinwheel variation, a ca. 1900 nine patch variation, and of course over 100 little nine patch blocks from the 1930's/1940's.

What did you do today?

New Orphan Block Acquisitions

I promised that I'd have pics of my most recent orphan blocks......so here they are:

I found the two 1930's double wedding ring blocks at a flea market. I was thinking of just finishing them as table quilts. I have a round table and I think one would look great in the middle (if only I could find the table under all of the newspapers, magazines, and mail.....LOL!). The string blocks and large four patches came from the same place -- one of my quilt friends called and said she had some old quilt pieces she thought I'd be interested. People know me too well, I guess. There are something like 150 string blocks about 8" in size. The fabrics are really fun -- they range from the 1930's to the 1950's. Not sure what I'm doing with them yet, though. As for the big four patches, I think I might take them apart, that way I can reset the four patches into a more interesting setting. The set of Album blocks was truly a very special find. They date from the 1870's-1890's and there are 75 of them in the set! Amazing!!!! The fabrics are incredible and I don't think there are any duplicate fabrics within the blocks. There are even some early purples that haven't faded to brown yet. Sadly, there are no signatures on them. So, what do you think of my new finds? Not bad, eh?

Guilty

Okay, I admit I must be one of the worst bloggers right now. I haven't blogged since the end of April. I've never gone this long without blogging. It's not that I didn't have anything to say, actually it's been quite the opposite. It's just that I've been quilting like a mad woman and haven't been spending any real quality time with my computer. No computer time, no blogging. I've been so lax in computer time that I'm actually checking my email on my ipod now. Sad, isn't it? Now that that's out of the way, let me tell you what I haven't been blogging about. May was a really busy month. Of course, I worked on several magazine pieces and made my deadlines. I also made several stash projects including another quillow, a table runner out of left over batiks, and a miniature quilt for an upcoming guild quilt challenge. Speaking of guild, I didn't even make it to the May meeting. I also worked on a few projects for my upcoming book -- I really need to buckle down and get serious about the projects. Of course, I also worked on research and writing for my book, too. I had an Orphan Quilt trunk show in May. It went well and the dinner beforehand was delicious. Of course, all of these activities were fitted around my day job at the public library, a few other part-time jobs, and my home responsibilities. The end of May brought some real heartache in my family, though, as we said good bye to our beloved canine companion, Poohka. This was really hard. He was a very special and unique Shih Tzu, with a smile and he even stomped his foot (yes, like a two year old's temper tantrum) when he didn't get what he wanted fast enough. His kidneys were failing rapidly and there wasn't anything more the vet could do. What hurt even more was the fact that my other furry pal, Gizmo has been absolutely bereft in the absence of his doggy brother. I think he's finally adjusting somewhat but he's very clingy and doesn't like me to leave him. Giz has even taken to sleeping on a pillow in my studio while I sew (he's never done this before). We've all had to make adjustments in our daily lives. It's ironic, really, when you realize how much your day revolves around a beloved pet only after he or she is gone. Smile on, Pookie, smile on.... June is turning out to be just as crazy as May was. In addition to trying to spend more time with Gizmo, I'm working on one project for the magazine and I just found out today that they accepted two more for a pre cut book. Whew -- I'd better start sewing faster. I had another program for the Sew and Sew Guild in Grove City recently too. Very nice group. I debuted my new program, "Fabric Dating Tips and Orphan Block Tricks." It was a fun evening. Next week I have a program for Country Charms Guild -- I'm doing the new one, and I am also doing a volunteer workshop on English paper piecing at the at the local senior center. Well, I see it's getting late so I'll stop here. Hopefully I'll get some photos up soon for your viewing pleasure. I want to show off some of the new Orphan Blocks that have come my way recently. Good Night! I need to go to bed so that I can get up early and QUILT!

Playing Catch Up / Orphan Quilt Update

Do you know the old saying, "When it rains, it pours?" Well, that pretty much sums up the last week or so for me. After I returned from my quilt vacation at Chautauqua, I made a list of items I wanted to make for people for Christmas. I even made some Pittsburgh Steelers pillow cases for my brother in law and I gathered up additional supplies that I would need for my special one of a kind Christmas gifts for my friends and family.

I was on a roll and getting ready to start my next holiday project when I received an email from Quilter's World magazine -- an acceptance for an article for the June 2012 issue. Super!

Then in the afternoon, I received another acceptance from Quiler's World -- this time for two quilts for an upcoming House of White Birches book! I was ecstatic, but there was a catch -- a deadline of Nov. 8th, which is only about four weeks away. Oh my!

Of course, I found all this out this past Monday and I had to work all day on Tuesday. I called one of my local quilt shops and begged them to stay open a little later so that I could get the fabric for one of the quilt projects so that I could get started that night. And they did! It took me about fiftenn minutes but when I walked out of the shop, I had the perfect fabrics for the first of the quilt projects and the perfect backing to boot! Let's hear it for our local quilt shops -- you wouldn't find that kind of service at a chain store, would you?

By the way, today is Friday and the first quilt top was DONE yesterday. That's three days, not too bad for a throw-sized quilt top, eh?

ORPHAN QUILT UPDATE:

A few blogs ago, I included a photo of Nancy's orphan quilt, which she made from blocks purchased at an antique shop. Well, Nancy emailed me back to say that she won a ribbon at the Fair! Well Done, Nancy!

Valerie sent me this photo of her orphan quilt -- sorry it's taken me so long to get this on the blog. The blocks were hand-pieced by her great grandmother. Great quilt, Val!




Recently, I also reconnected with a very dear quilt friend who moved to Colorado three years ago. She emailed me and then called me shortly thereafter. My friend, Dot told me a little bit about her home in the mountains -- she can see Pike's Pike from the potty in her upstairs bathroom! Anyway, she asked me for my mailing address because she said she had something for me. I figured that she might have come across some old blocks and thought of me.

A large box arrived the other day. Inside the box was a treasure trove of vintage fabrics, old blocks AND newer blocks, a pieced apron, a prairie hat, and even a few quilt tops. I was speechless. Completely. Just thinking about Dot makes me smile. She never was a quiet quilter -- always prefering red and orange and purple with a splash of lime green. It was Dot who taught me how to dye fabrics and got me hooked. I've really missed her a lot in the past several years. I'm so happy to reconnect with her.

Amazon's Top 100

I am so very excited to shout to the world that my book, ORPHAN BLOCK QUILTS, has made the top 100 quilt books in the Kindle category on Amazon. Wahoo!!!!! Yesterday I was #91. So, if you are interested in getting my book as an ebook, go to Amazon and download it for $11.99. Oh, and don't forget to leave a customer review, too!